hi all

theres lots of info on cycling on the web
but i cant see anything on the levels to expect

my ammonia is crawling up
its 0.25 after ten days (api master test kit)
O nitrites, ph - 7.4 approx, o nitrates

should it be going faster?
i had a goldfish in it for three days
the an empty tank for three days and then
started feeding the empty tank for the last
three days,

is this normal

what level will the ammomnia reach?
what levels will the nitrites reach?
what level of nitrates is okay?

sorry i know this is tedious stuff for yis
but i cant find it on the web

rgds

4

in regard to the nitrites (NO2-) level in parts per million (ppm) which are equivalent to milligrams per Liter (mg/L) from 0 ppm to 5.0 ppm, in either fresh or saltwater aquariums.
hope this is of some use to you

The bacterium that converts Nitrite to Nitrate develops in our aquarium and pond filters but it takes time for it to reach sufficient levels. Once established, the bacteria can be disrupted by cleaning or replacing your filter cartridges and other filter material or by using some medications. Adding additional fish and excessive feeding can also overwhelm our filters and result in higher Ammonia and thus higher Nitrite levels too.

Testing will enable you to detect whether Nitrite is present and if so, allow you to take steps to remove it before it reaches toxic levels. Nitrite will prevent fish from carrying on normal respiration and high levels will result in fish death. Even trace levels will stress fish and suppress their immune system, increasing the likelihood of disease. Testing your water is fairly simple and there are a number of inexpensive test kits that will enable you to do so. Ideally your Nitrite should be ZERO

ammoina levels and readings will depend on the bio load of the tank.. if you feed alot or have a lot of fish then the ammonia will be high.

0.25 wont kill your fish.. but if thats the highest its gone then your NitrIte wont go up much either. beacteria will grow faster at higher PH's (above 7) so if you want to speed the process slow your filter and raise the PH..

NitrAte levels are acceptable within 0 - 40ppm but ideally about 5ppm (i keep mine at 0 - 5ppm)

HTH

Adam

Hi. I cycled my tank for nearly 4 weeks by feeding it with koi pellets and the highest the Ammonia got up to was 1.0, Nitrite was 1.0 and Nitrate got to was 10. Then Ammonia went to 0 overnight at week 3, Nitrite to .50 and then to .25 then 0. It stayed like that for 5 days(Nitrate was at 5), then I added some danios. The following week I added some Red nose tetras and Torpedo barbs. Had a little emergengy though, the power went (dont know for how long, no more than an hour or two though) and next day Ammonia went to .25. Not sure if my bio filter was affected by power loss or if it was something else. Anyway have done a 10% water change every 2 days since and everything seems fine now. I have read on web, people bringing their Ammonia up to 5.0.

Hi,
I was worried a lot at the beginning. Kept my tank empty of any fish for 7 weeks. Then, bought danios and the first week they settled Ammonia went down drastically. Also, you can see the bacteria boom when the water becomes cloudy. I was watching the show for two days - water was cloudy - and on the third day it became clear as a tear. And as I understand there are two stages - first bacteria that help to turn ammonia to nitrites then another "show" - new wave of bacteria - nitrite to nitrate. Was changing the water almost every day. Now Ammonia - nill, nitrite - nill, nitrate - less than 5. Also, used some conditioners - although - don't know if they helped. And watch the fish - if they are funny, playful and full of life then it's OK.
The best approach is - if you are not sure - test your water every day and read the recommendations to the tests - usually they give good advice. It is OK if all dangerous levels are going down - means your tank is getting to the norm. And I hope more experienced people on the forum will help you definitely - just ask. Forum is to help the sort as meself - newbies. And they helped me a lot.
All the best,
Andrei.

I am a novice so please feel free to correct me. I am just speaking from my own experience of fishless cycling with ammonia solution.

What I have seen as the great advantage of this method is that from day one you have control of what is the load of ammonia ppm.

I was able to push the ammonia reading on day one at 5.0 ppm with 35 drops of ammonia solution at 9%. Then I kept repeating the dose until the nitrite appears....and at that moment cutting the dose to a half until both ammonia and nitrite read nil.

At the time I was dosing 35 drops per day I was certainly worried as i thought it would be far too much. The reading on day 4 and onwards was very high (probably 10-20 ppm). I thought I had spoiled the water beyond recovery. However I stuck to it and then it just happened like a miracle... ammonia readings were less and nitirite started to raise. From then all happened really fast.

I also think that the advantage of the method is that the bacteria colony stablished is strong enough to handle the introduction of several fish at the end of the cycling. Because the ammonia load has been so heavy the tank has now the capacity to accept several fish.

My tank has fish only for the last 4 weeks and my readings have been consistenly 0-0. I was away for 7 days last week and coming back home I was deleighted to see that it was still 0-0...

Hope this helps in any way.

My Nirtrite is always Zero thankfully but my Nitrate is never 0 ?! Its usually about 20 Mg/L or a tiny bit higher..

newbie cycle log, day 20............

okay....todays questions.....

my tank has started to show nitrates on the increase
(a tiny bit - 0.5 or so)

my nitrates have been 0 since day one
my ammonia is about 1.5

i am feeding the tank with flakes once a day
there is a freeze dried shrimp festering in there too

i was expecting a nitrite reading before the nitrate

what gives? is this okay?


another question.......

all the flakes that are going in are turned furry

i obviously have to suck up the manky flakes
with my siphon when the tank is cycled, but its that it?


last one....

i need to transfer the water out of my tank before i stock,
because...
i need to reattach the juwel filter as i cut it away to clean it when i got my 2nd hand tank and i want a 3d background in my tank

i was going to just siphon it into a friends empty tank
and do what i need to do and then siphon back out

i am cycling this water at the moment which is why
i want to keep it when doing my own tanks bits,
any issues with my plan?, (his own tropical tank was wiped out when his heater was accidentally turned off while he was away)

rgds

4

hi all

i have made a mess of the cycling process twice!
I wont go into my embarassing journey
but heres where I am now....

I have two silvertip tetras in a tank reading
ammonia .75 , nitrite 0, nitrate 0

the ammonia was at 1ppm a couple of days ago
so i did water changes and it seems to be sitting on .75

I have read that if i go crazy doing waterchanges
the cycle will will not kick in properly as there
will not be enough ammonia

so, at what ppm level of ammonia would you
do waterchanges for the good of the fish,
but still let the cycle happen

rgds

4